The present invention relates to nuclear reactor safety systems. More particularly, the invention relates to trip signals that are especially effective at high power for reactor safety shutdown systems.
Modern nuclear reactors commonly include one or more automatic safety systems that are designed to quickly and safely shutdown the reactor in the event of a casualty such as a loss of coolant accident (LOCA) or uncontrolled power excursion. These automatic safety systems are tripped when one or more parameters reach corresponding thresholds, or setpoints. The design of trip logics for automatic safety shutdown systems must accommodate two conflicting requirements: the systems must be tripped quickly enough to minimize the extent of the casualty, while being immune to spurious trips during conditions that do not require reactor shutdown.